Girl Scouts and Their Custom Patches

Pondering the idea of one day placing my two little ones in the girl scouts, I began to think back to my days as a Brownie, then a Girl Scout Jr., and how I really didn’t collect too many of the Girl Scout custom patches, emblems, clothes labels, or garment labels. I think I might have had my mother sew labels maybe once every few months in the three or four years I participated in the program. Suddenly subjecting my girls to this Girl Scout tradition of competitive custom patch swapping didn’t sound as pleasant as I originally fantasized.

The USA manufacturer of custom patches can contribute a bulk of their sales to the Girl Scouts love of custom patches, emblems, clothes labels, sew labels, and garment labels. It is safe to say, that the girl scouts keep a lot of manufacturing companies afloat.

The Girl Scout troops are now becoming a little more inventive with their idea of custom patches or emblems. Troop 202 of California had “Nerd Merit Badges” made to represent their Girl Scout Troop, and now wear the skull emblem with pride, as a clothes label, garment label of sorts. PVC labels, or rubber labels can be used to produce these badges, but some troops may now opt to use a more ecofriendly patch by allowing USA manufacturers of custom patches to use silicone to create their custom patches. The troop may even have a green label created to showcase their troop’s dedication to the “green” movement.

The Girl Scouts of the USA have over 130 custom patches displayed on their official Girl Scout Shop website. With custom patches for many events and activities completed in their lives, the Girl Scouts have dominated the custom patch industry. Some of the many varieties of custom patches are iron-on fun patches that commemorate years of attendance, and anniversary milestones. Sew labels that represent holidays are also very popular in the world of Girl Scout patches. They also have fun patches like, a bowling pins patch, a BFF fun patch, an art museum visit patch, and a bowling shirt patch. There are also the classic patches that have made a name for themselves since the Girl Scout inception like, the camping patch, first aid patch, and community service patch. These old patches are done with a modern twist; the camping patch is in the shape of flaming fire with a marshmallow on a stick placed in the fire, and comes as sew labels; the first aid patch is in the shape of a band aid, and is an iron-on patch; the community service patch is in the shape of a town with girls stitched across, arm in arm.

The Girl Scout custom patches of my day have definitely come a long way in the past twenty-five or so years. Gone are the days of plain old circular patches, when we can now look forward to custom patches, clothes labels, and emblems that reflect, not only our need for diversity amongst our peers, but also tickles our need for visual pleasure. The lure of the Girl Scout custom patches is vast as the tradition still has its strong points. Girls come together to learn more about the world around them, while making friends and being rewarded with cool custom patches that they earned; how could anyone rightfully pass up that opportunity for their little girls, as they strive to become contributing adults in a competitive world?

Follow the Custom Patches made from Soft Flexible PVC link to learn more about US made PVC custom patches, or to save $250.00 off your first order go to http://www.flexsystems.com/how_to_use_html/Time_is_Money_Webtour.html